Water-cooled condenser

ABSTRACT

Provided is a water-cooled condenser of which the size is reduced by a simple structure and the cooling efficiency is improved, in which a main heat-dissipating unit where a coolant discharged from a compressor exchanges heat with cooling water and a supercooling core unit where a coolant discharged from a receiver drier exchanges heat with cooling water have separate cooling circuits and are integrated in one unit, a second cooling water inflow pipe, which allows the cooling water to flow into the supercooling core unit, diverges from a first cooling water inflow pipe that allows the cooling water to flow into the main heat-dissipating unit, and the cooling water flowing in the supercooling core unit is discharged with the cooling water in the main heat-dissipating unit, through an internal connecting line.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent ApplicationNumber 10-2010-0122874 filed Dec. 3, 2010, the entire contents of whichapplication is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a water-cooled condenser, and moreparticularly, to a water-cooled condenser in which a mainheat-dissipating core unit and a supercooling core unit have separatecooling circuits and are integrally mounted and cooling watersimultaneously flows into the main heat-dissipating core unit and thesupercooling core unit and then joins to be discharged.

2. Description of Related Art

In general, condensers are devices that condense and liquefy ahigh-temperature and high-pressure gas coolant discharged from acompressor by dissipating the heat of the gas coolant to the air and/orcooling water and classified into an air-cooled condenser and awater-cooled condenser in accordance with the cooling type.

Air-cooled condensers used for vehicles are cooled by cooling wind thatflows inside through a bumper or a radiator grill at the front of anengine room; however, the system configuration is relatively simple,whereas the cooling efficiency is unsatisfactory.

The water-cooled condensers have been increasingly developed becausealthough the structure is complicated in comparison to the air-cooledcondenser, due to an electric water pump, a reservoir tank, and alow-temperature radiator, the cooling efficiency is higher than theair-cooled condensers.

A structure of a water-cooled condenser has been known, which includes aseparate type heat exchanger composed of a main heat-dissipating coreunit that exchanges heat with a wet vapor coolant and a supercoolingcore unit that exchanges heat with a liquid coolant, which areseparated. In the heat exchanger, a coolant and cooling water flow intothe main heat-dissipating unit and exchange heat, the coolant that hasexchanged heat in the main heat-dissipating unit flows into a receiverdrier in which the coolant is separated into gas and liquid and thenflows separately into the supercooling core unit, while the coolingwater is discharged outside from the main heat-dissipating unit, andspecific cooling water also flows into the supercooling core unit,exchanges heat with the coolant in the supercooling core unit, and isthen discharged out of the supercooling core unit.

Further, another structure has been proposed in which a mainheat-dissipating unit and a supercooling core unit have separate coolingcircuits and are integrated in one unit, a coolant flows into the mainheat-dissipating unit and is then discharged outside from thesupercooling core unit after passing a receiver drier, and cooling waterflows into the main heat dissipating unit and is then discharged outsidethrough the supercooling core unit.

The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section isonly for enhancement of understanding of the general background of theinvention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form ofsuggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to aperson skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Various aspects of the present invention provide for a water-cooledcondenser of which the size is small due to a simple structure and thecooling efficiency is improved.

An aspect of the present invention provides a water-cooled condenser, inwhich a main heat-dissipating unit where a coolant discharged from acompressor exchanges heat with cooling water and a supercooling coreunit where a coolant discharged from a receiver drier exchanges heatwith cooling water have separate cooling circuits and are integrated inone unit, a second cooling water inflow pipe, which allows the coolingwater to flow into the supercooling core unit, diverges from a firstcooling water inflow pipe that allows the cooling water to flow into themain heat-dissipating unit, and the cooling water flowing in thesupercooling core unit is mixed with the cooling water in the mainheat-dissipating unit through an internal connecting line and thendischarged.

Cooling water inlet and outlet of the main heat-dissipating unit andcooling water inlet of the supercooling core unit may be disposed at oneside of the integrated unit, and a coolant inlet of the mainheat-dissipating unit and a coolant outlet of the supercooling core unitmay be disposed at the other side of the integrated unit.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a water-cooledcondenser, in which a main heat-dissipating unit where a coolantdischarged from a compressor exchanges heat with cooling water and asupercooling core unit where a coolant discharged from a receiver drierexchanges heat with cooling water have separate cooling circuits and areintegrated in one unit, a second cooling water inflow pipe, which allowsthe cooling water to flow into the supercooling core unit, diverges froma first cooling water inflow pipe that allows the cooling water to flowinto the main heat-dissipating unit, and a second cooling water outflowpipe of the supercooling core unit is connected to a first cooling wateroutflow pipe of the main heat-dissipating unit.

According to various aspects of the present invention, since the mainheat-dissipating unit and the supercooling core unit have separatecooling circuits and are integrated in one unit, the structure becomessimple and the size is reduced, which is advantageous in terms oflayout. Further, the cooling water discharged from a radiator separatelyflows into the main heat-dissipating unit and the supercooling coreunit, such that flow resistance of the cooling water decreases, andaccordingly the flow rate increases and the cooling efficiency isimproved.

The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other featuresand advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in moredetail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, andthe following Detailed Description, which together serve to explaincertain principles of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a cooling circuit and the structure of an exemplarywater-cooled condenser according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a cooling circuit and the structure of an exemplarywater-cooled condenser according to of the present invention.

It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarilyto scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of variousfeatures illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. Thespecific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein,including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations,and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intendedapplication and use environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of thepresent invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) willbe described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will beunderstood that present description is not intended to limit theinvention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, theinvention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplaryembodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalentsand other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims.

FIG. 1 shows the structure and a circuit of a water-cooled condenseraccording to various embodiments of the present invention, in which anoutlet of a main heat-dissipating core unit 1, which is connected with acompressor and dissipates the heat of a high-temperature andhigh-pressure wet vapor coolant discharged from the compressor,communicates with an inlet of a receiver drier 2 through a firstconnecting pipe 3, such that a coolant that has exchanged heat withcooling water in main heat-dissipating unit 1 flows to the inlet ofreceiver drier 2 through the outlet and first connecting pipe 3 and isseparated into gas and liquid in receive drier 2.

The outlet of receiver drier 2 is connected with the inlet ofsupercooling core unit 5 through a second connecting pipe 4, such thatthe coolant that has been separated into gas and liquid in the receiverdrier flows into the supercooling core unit through second connectingpipe 5 and the inlet of supercooling core unit 5 and exchanges heat withthe cooling water.

Receiver drier 2 may be integrated with main heat-dissipating unit 1 andsupercooling core unit 5 in one unit, or may be separately provided.

Since main heat-dissipating unit 1 and supercooling core unit 5 haveseparate cooling circuits and are integrated in one unit, the structureis simple and the size is small.

Further, a cooling water inflow pipe 6 that allows the cooling water toflow into main heat-dissipating unit 1 and supercooling core unit 5through different channels is provided, such that cooling water that hasbeen cooled through a low-temperature radiator flows into the mainheat-dissipating unit and the supercooling core unit through the coolingwater inflow pipe and exchanges heat with the coolant.

Cooling water inflow pipe 6 has a second cooling water inflow pipe 6 bdiverging from a first cooling water inflow pipe 6 a, which allowscooling water to flow into main heat-dissipating core unit 1, to allowthe cooling water to flow into the supercooling core unit, such that ithas a T-shape or a Y-shape.

Since the cooling water flows into the main heat-dissipating unit andthe supercooling core unit through separate channels and exchanges heatwith the coolant, flow resistance of the cooling water is reduced andthe cooling performance is also improved.

Meanwhile, the cooling water that has flowed into supercooling core unit5 and main heat-dissipating unit 1 is discharged through a cooling wateroutflow pipe 7 connected to main heat-dissipating unit 1. A connectingline 7 a that connects the main heat-dissipating unit and thesupercooling unit is disposed across the main heat-dissipating unit andthe supercooling core unit such that the cooing water flowing insupercooling core unit 5 moves up to main heat-dissipating unit 1 and isthen mixed and discharged with the cooling water in the mainheat-dissipating unit.

Further, the coolant inlet of main heat-dissipating unit 1 and thecoolant outlet of supercooling core unit 5 are arranged opposite to thecooling water inlet and outlet.

FIG. 2 shows the structure and a circuit of a water-cooled condenseraccording to various embodiments of the present invention, in which theconfiguration of a cooling water outlet pipe 17 is different from thatdescribed above and the other configurations are the same.

That is, cooling water outlet pipe 17 is composed of a first coolingwater outlet pipe 17 a allowing cooling water to be discharged from mainheat-dissipating unit 1 and a second cooling water outlet pipe 17 ballowing cooling water to be discharged from supercooling core unit 5,in which the first and second cooling water outlet pipes are separateparts combined with each other.

Since main heat-dissipating core unit 1 and supercooling core unit 5have separate cooling circuit and are integrated in one unit in theillustrated embodiment, the structure is simple and the size is reduced.Further, the cooling water separately flows into the mainheat-dissipating unit and the supercooling core unit through the coolingwater inlet pipe and the cooling water outlet pipe, such that flowresistance of the cooling water is reduced by heat exchange of thecoolant and the cooling efficiency is correspondingly improved.

For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appendedclaims, the terms front, inside or outside, and etc. are used todescribe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to thepositions of such features as displayed in the figures.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain certain principles of the invention and their practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make andutilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as wellas various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended thatthe scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto andtheir equivalents.

1. A water-cooled condenser comprising: a main heat-dissipating unitwhere a coolant discharged from a compressor exchanges heat with coolingwater; and a supercooling core unit where a coolant discharged from areceiver drier exchanges heat with cooling water have separate coolingcircuits, wherein the main heat-dissipating unit and the supercoolingcore unit are integrated in one unit; wherein a second cooling waterinflow pipe, which allows the cooling water to flow into thesupercooling core unit, diverges from a first cooling water inflow pipethat allows the cooling water to flow into the main heat-dissipatingunit; and wherein the cooling water flowing in the supercooling coreunit is mixed and discharged with the cooling water in the mainheat-dissipating unit, through an internal connecting line.
 2. Thewater-cooled condenser as defined in claim 1, wherein a cooling waterinlet and a cooling water outlet of the main heat-dissipating unit and acooling water inlet of the supercooling core unit are disposed at oneside of the integrated unit, and a coolant inlet of the mainheat-dissipating unit and a coolant outlet of the supercooling core unitare disposed on another side of the integrated unit.
 3. A water-cooledcondenser comprising: a main heat-dissipating unit where a coolantdischarged from a compressor exchanges heat with cooling water; and asupercooling core unit where a coolant discharged from a receiver drierexchanges heat with cooling water have separate cooling circuits and areintegrated in one unit; wherein a second cooling water inflow pipe,which allows the cooling water to flow into the supercooling core unit,diverges from a first cooling water inflow pipe that allows the coolingwater to flow into the main heat-dissipating unit, and wherein a secondcooling water outflow pipe of the supercooling core unit is connected toa first cooling water outflow pipe of the main heat-dissipating unit. 4.The water-cooled condenser as defined in claim 3, wherein a coolingwater inlet and a cooling water outlet of the main heat-dissipating unitand a cooling water inlet of the supercooling core unit are disposed atone side of the integrated unit, and a coolant inlet of the mainheat-dissipating unit and a coolant outlet of the supercooling core unitare disposed at the other side of the integrated unit.